


hold tight

by ShowMeAHero



Category: IT (1990), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Amputee Eddie Kaspbrak, Confrontations, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:00:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26667859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShowMeAHero/pseuds/ShowMeAHero
Summary: "Maybe I’ll even let you drive.”Dani’s head snaps up from where she’s crouched on the floor, shoving her sneakers on. “Really?”“Nah,” Richie replies. Dani frowns at him. “Maybe in seven or eight years.”“Dad.”“Dan,”he says back.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 10
Kudos: 102
Collections: it (1990) one-shots





	hold tight

**Author's Note:**

> written based off a message i got on tumblr that read: _"I can see Dani growing up with Reddie and being FIERCELY protective of them?? Like NOBODY better say a negative thing(especially about Eddie’s missing arm) because[she is a mix of both her dads and she will ROAST the person to their DOOM"](https://andillwriteyouatragedy.tumblr.com/post/630352959563284480/i-can-see-dani-growing-up-with-reddie-and-being)_

“Hey, Danno!” Richie calls up the stairs, shoving his feet into his boots. He stomps his heels to get them down into the bottom of the shoes. “You wanna come for a walk with me?”

Richie hears his daughter’s feet hit the floor upstairs before she comes flying halfway down the steps. Dani grips the railing, half-hanging over the bannister.

“Where’re you going?” Dani asks.

“Gonna go pick up your dad and your sisters from the grocery store,” Richie tells her. “They need our help with the bags.”

“Should we bring the car?” Dani acts, hopping down the last few steps. Richie stops and holds his arms out, and she jumps from the third step, letting him catch her and swing her around to set her on her feet near the door.

“Your dad said it’s only a couple of things,” Richie says, “and it’s a nice day out. If you’re not feeling up to walking, though, we can drive, I don’t mind taking the car. Maybe I’ll even let you drive.”

Dani’s head snaps up from where she’s crouched on the floor, shoving her sneakers on. “Really?”

“Nah,” Richie replies. Dani frowns at him. “Maybe in seven or eight years.”

_ “Dad.” _

_ “Dan,”  _ he says back. “Up for a walk or wanna drive?”

“If you won’t let me drive,” she says, and he laughs, “then we can just walk.”

“Then we are walkin’,” Richie tells her.

For all her commentary and jokes, she still slips her hand into Richie’s when they head out the door. He swings their hands together before, halfway to the store, he kneels down and lets her climb up onto his shoulders. There’s not much more time he’ll be able to do things like this, he knows, so he tries to take the opportunity whenever he can. Even though she digs her hands into his hair and grabs on tight to keep her grip on him.

“Whoa, hey,” Richie says up to her. “We can’t all have your six feet of hair, kiddo. You lucked out getting your dad’s hair, but if you yank  _ mine _ out, I’m gonna look like Captain Picard.”

“Sorry,” Dani says. She wraps her fingers up in his jacket collar instead, and he holds on tight to her ankles to make sure she’s not going to slide off or go anywhere.

“See anything good up there?” Richie asks. Dani hums, kicking her heels lightly back into his chest. “Airplanes, maybe?”

“I can see  _ birds,”  _ she exclaims, and he laughs, squeezing her around the shin. Her hands leave his collar; when he cranes his head to look up at her, he sees her arms spread. She grins down at him and demands, “What?  _ I’m  _ a bird.”

“Alright, alright, so you’re a bird,” Richie agrees. He looks back to the path ahead and asks, “What sort of a bird?”

There’s another beat where she thinks about her answer before she decides, “A raven.”

“Happy Halloween,” Richie tells her. “You are your father’s daughter.”

“Which one?” she asks.

“Yes,” Richie says, and she laughs, ducking down to wrap her arms around his head. “Hey,  _ hey,  _ I can’t see a thing, birdo—”

“Sorry!” she exclaims, releasing him. She starts to say something else before she stops herself. One hand flies forward; Richie can see it pointing over his head. “There’s Dad!”

“So there is,” Richie says. He can see the small dots in the distance that they both recognize as Dani’s two younger sisters and Eddie, right outside the grocery store with a cart. There’s someone beside them, too, Richie realizes, someone speaking to Eddie. The closer they get, the more he realizes it is not a pleasant conversation they’re having.

“What’s going on?” Dani asks. “Why is Daddy talking to that guy?”

“That’s a good question, Danno,” Richie says. He’s trying to sound calmer than he feels, but, truth is, he’s already a little nervous. Eddie is not a fan of confrontation, and if anybody interacts with him while he’s got any of the kids, he tends to avoid even raising his voice.

“Should we do something?” Dani asks.

“Why don’t we scope it out?” Richie replies. By the time they’re close enough to be within talking distance of Eddie, he can tell his conversation is ramping up into an argument.

Richie picks up speed until he’s power-walking. Lila and Blair see him, recognize him; Eddie takes note of him a moment later, seeing him over the shoulder of the man he’s arguing with. His face looks concerned, brow furrowed and upset. It makes Richie speed up until he’s right in between them.

“Hey, howdy,” Richie interjects, ducking into the conversation, Dani still perched on his shoulders. “Everything alright here?”

“I was just offering to help,” the guy says. “This idiot’s getting all worked up, and his stupid kids—”

“Oh, whoa, hey now,” Richie cuts him off, feeling a flash of anger lick up his spine. Eddie’s face has gone all red, which doesn’t surprise him. Richie makes himself laugh, stepping in between the guy and Eddie. “I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding, so why don’t we just all head on home?”

“Sounds wonderful,” Eddie says with an edge. The bite in his voice makes Richie’s skin crawl, and he just wants to get them out of there, to remove that bite.

“I just offered to  _ help,”  _ the guy repeats. “And all he did was  _ bitch—” _

_ “Hey,”  _ Richie snaps. “Do  _ not  _ talk about him like that.” He turns to Eddie and says, “Eds, grab the girls and hand me the bags, let’s go.”

The man doesn’t say anything while Richie takes Dani down off his shoulders, trying to stop his hands from shaking. He accepts the bags that Eddie passes to him; Dani takes hers, too, eyeballing the guy the entire time without looking away. The guy looks down at her, then back up to Eddie, frowning.

“I should’ve known that someone like you would—”

“They said  _ stop,” _ Dani cuts him off. Richie doesn’t have a hand free, but Eddie does, and he puts it on her shoulder instantly. Richie can see him digging his fingers in, holding her tight in place. “What makes you think we want your help anyways? Daddy doesn’t need your help, and he doesn’t  _ want  _ your help.”

“You watch your mouth,” the guy tells her.

“You watch  _ yours,”  _ Dani snaps back, before Richie or Eddie can say anything. “I don’t want your help, I  _ want _ you to go  _ away!” _

The guy looks up to Richie and starts to say, “Are you going to—”

“Go!” Dani interrupts him loudly. Lila giggles nervously, clamping her hands over her mouth. Richie knows why; at home, yelling like that or saying things like she’s said to anyone would get her a stern talking-to from one or both of them.

Here, though, and right now, as angry as he feels, he can’t imagine being upset with her for speaking her mind. When the guy looks incredulously from Dani to Eddie and to Richie again, Richie tries not to let his anger take over.

Instead, he just says, “You heard her. Leave my family alone.”

The guy’s still making a comment under his breath when he turns to leave, but Richie’s already turning and crouching down, setting his bags down on the walk outside the grocery store and tugging Dani into his arms. He holds her tight, looking up at Eddie behind her back. Eddie’s face is still pink, his eyes swollen, and his face a mask of anger, but he doesn’t say anything. He just smiles slightly, a little bit so Richie can see it, before he crouches down, too.

“You did a wonderful job, baby,” Eddie tells Dani when Richie separates from her. Eddie cups her chin in his palm and kisses her cheek before pulling away.

“Why were you letting him just be so mean?” Dani demands. “Why didn’t you just come home? Or yell at him, Daddy, he’s  _ mean.” _

“Oh, baby,” Eddie says quietly. He pulls the bags out of her hands and sets them on the walk before tugging her into his chest, wrapping his arm around her. Holding her in a tight hug, Eddie stands, keeping her secure on his hip.

“You kids think you can help me carry all this?” Richie asks Lila and Blair. They both nod eagerly, blotchy and nervous-quiet, going right to him and taking up the bags he passes over. He takes the bulk up himself, hanging off his wrists when he stands.

“Is Dani in trouble?” Blair asks. Richie nudges her with his ankle, and she pushes back at him, bags bumping into his legs.

“No, Dani’s not in trouble,” Eddie says. He looks to Richie for a brief moment as they begin their walk home together, but Richie just smiles at him. He can see how angry he is, and he knows he’s going to hear the entire rant later, the whole bottled-up thing that Eddie didn’t let himself release in front of their children.

“Daddy?” Blair asks.

“No, she’s not,” Richie agrees. “Sometimes, it’s— it’s more important to stand up for people and for what you believe in than it is to be polite.”

“Really?” Lila asks.

“Absolutely, kiddo,” Richie says.

“I’m sorry,” Dani says, from Eddie’s hold. She lifts her head up off his shoulder and adds, “But he was just being so mean and I thought that—  _ Ugh,  _ I don’t  _ know,  _ he just—” She motions wildly, looking from Richie to Eddie before she exclaims, “I just didn’t want to listen to it! You shouldn’t have to, either. You should just leave when that happens.”

“Oh, honey, you’re right,” Eddie says. “I was trying to be calm with him but it wasn’t helping things much, was it?”

“Well, you know, there’s value in being respectful,” Richie comments. He doesn’t want Eddie to just be  _ wrong.  _ Eddie smiles over at him, face flushed, and makes a face that reads to Richie as,  _ eh. “And  _ maybe there’s also value in telling people they’re being snot-nosed weasels when they’re being snot-nosed weasels.”

Dani laughs, turning to throw her arms around Eddie’s neck and hold on tight to him. He still holds her tight in his right arm; with the end of his left, he nudges her face towards him, then kisses her temple. Richie’s anger is still just as bright in his chest as he imagines it is in Eddie’s, and he’ll rant just as much as Eddie does, later, when they’re alone. He can just feel it coming.

“Hey, look!” Lila exclaims, pointing out a bunny on the path up ahead. Dani squirms out of Eddie’s arms to her feet before she runs off after the rabbit with her sisters.

Eddie takes up the bags Lila and Blair left behind, calling, “Stay out of the road!” after them. When Richie falls into step beside him, following after their daughters, he nudges Eddie with his shoulder, bumping their upper arms together.

“You okay, big guy?” Richie asks. Eddie shrugs, but his face is still flushed. “You can scream into a pillow all you want when you get home, how’s that?”

“He was just—” Eddie starts, before gritting his teeth shut, frustrated. He exhales slowly, then says, “He was just  _ incredibly  _ patronizing, and I was— was  _ not  _ appreciative of the way he was speaking to me and the girls.”

“You should’ve just started walking,” Richie says.

“We were waiting for you,” Eddie reminds him. “I didn’t want to just leave our bags.”

Richie doesn’t really know what to say except,  _ that guy sucks,  _ but he’s sure Eddie knows that. Regardless, he says, “Eds, that guy  _ sucks,  _ I’m  _ sorry.” _

With a huff, Eddie says, “I’m just— I’m real sick of people talking to me that way. It’s… You know, it’s just like—”

“Daddy!” Dani shouts back to him. She holds the rabbit up over her head, triumphant, a delighted smile on her face. The bunny seems apparently content to be there, just hanging out in her hands, nose twitching. “Can we keep him?”

“Oh, my God,” Eddie says instantly, breathlessly. Richie snorts a laugh. “Baby, please put that down!”

_ “Daddy,”  _ Dani pleads with him. Eddie looks to Richie, all furrowed brow and his handsome, sharp face. He can’t help but lean in and kiss him.

“That isn’t helpful,” Eddie points out, smiling when they separate. Richie nudges him towards the girls.

“You’ve got all the help you need right there,” Richie says. Eddie rolls his eyes, but he makes Richie hold out his arms so he can line the bags up to his elbows. “Oh, don’t you worry, the pack mule’s right behind you.”

Eddie presses a kiss to his cheek before jogging off after the girls, exclaiming, “Babygirl,  _ no,  _ put that  _ down,”  _ leaving Richie to follow.

**Author's Note:**

> You can (and should!) come chat with me on Twitter at [@nicole__mello](https://twitter.com/nicole__mello) and/or on Tumblr at [andillwriteyouatragedy](http://andillwriteyouatragedy.tumblr.com/).


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